Module ANT1005 for 2021/2
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Undergraduate Module Descriptor
ANT1005: Introduction to Social Anthropology: Exploring Cultural Diversity
This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.
Module Aims
You will gain a foundational knowledge of anthropological theory and concepts, and learn how to think critically and analytically about key questions and problems in studying the worlds of other people and our own. You will also start to appreciate the unique methods of ethnographic fieldwork, which are increasingly used in a variety of organisational and professional contexts.
| On successfully completing the programme you will be able to: | |
|---|---|
| Module-Specific Skills | 1. show a basic understanding of the extent and nature of human diversity and commonality as seen from a socio-cultural perspective; 2. show a basic understanding of the relationship between specific social and cultural forms in relation to broader global and historical processes; 3. demonstrate - in tutorials, formative work and in the exams - some facility in the use of the repertoire of key concepts and approaches of anthropological analysis. 4. display, in written and oral form, the ability to question cultural assumptions; |
| Discipline-Specific Skills | 5. critically evaluate contemporary anthropological and related texts; 6. display - in written and oral form - an understanding of the discipline's relation to, and difference from, from other approaches and explanations offered in the social sciences; 7. show an appreciation of key issues relevant to the contemporary world, and develop critical, comparative and cross-cultural insight; |
| Personal and Key Skills | 8. demonstrate transferable skills in formulating, researching and addressing focused questions; 9. prepare focused and comprehensive written and oral presentations, and in discussing ideas and interpretations with others in a clear and reasoned way; 10. plan and execute work independently and in collaboration with others; and 11. demonstrate skills in cross-cultural understanding, translation and comparison, which will be of advantage in a broad range of professional settings. |
Module Content
Syllabus Plan
Whilst the precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover all or some of the following topics:
- Kinship and the construction of relatedness
- Gendered difference
- Of witches and fallen gods: thinking in different modes
- Senses of place, qualities of time: questioning ontologies
- Race and colonialism in the ethnographic encounter
Typical questions for formative assignments and tutorial presentations are:
1. Why study kinship? How would social anthropologists answer this question?
2. Why did Captain Cook have to die? And why have anthropologists argued about it?
3. People across the world perceive different qualities of time. Without clocks, would we be living unstructured lives?
4. What does it mean to say that the belief in witchcraft is rational?
Learning and Teaching
This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 27 | 123 | 0 |
...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:
| Category | Hours of study time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning & Teaching | 22 | Eleven 2-hour lectures, involving group discussion and film screenings |
| Scheduled Learning & Teaching | 5 | Five 1-hour tutorials |
| Guided independent study | 33 | Weekly reading for lectures and tutorials |
| Guided independent study | 18 | Preparing tutorial presentation individually or in pairs |
| Guided independent study | 27 | Peer workshopping of reading responses via ELE |
| Guided independent study | 20 | Essay writing (reading, library-based research) |
| Guided independent study | 25 | Preparing reading responses portfolio for submission |
Online Resources
This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).
